Regardless of what stage of the social media process you are in, there are three elements that all effective campaigns include. Consider these three items to boost social media success.

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Time. In order for social media programs to succeed, it needs to be nurtured with time. Oodles of hours are not necessary, but carving out real time in the day to attend to it is a must. A good rule of thumb is once hour per week, per platform. If using Twitter, Facebook and blogging, expect to spend three hours per week for maintenance. Depending on the content and frequency of updates, this time commitment may increase.

A Good Understanding. You wouldn’t buy a shiny new iPad only to check email on it, would you? Of course not! You want to get optimal functionality to make the investment worthwhile. The same holds true for any social media platform pursued. Understand everything that social media platforms do and use them to your full advantage.

Content. Content is king! The main objective of using social media for marketing practices is to interactive with your audience or customer base. This could mean promoting a purpose or message or selling a product or service. In order to do this, you must create content that people will actually want to read. Post relevant, informational and interesting content to keep your audience engaged.

Spend a little time planning out social media activities. Create a posting schedule and try to keep the topic of postings consistent across all social media platforms. Like with most marketing activities, you get out of it what you put into it, so work to maximize efforts with smart practices and effective strategies.

And P.S. – Good luck!

Want to talk about this more? Have a specific social media or social netiquette question? Drop me a note in the comments, through email or on Twitter (don’t forget the hashtag #Hey518).